Yaropolk I of Kiev

Yaropolk I of Kiev (952-11 June 978) was Grand Prince of Kievan Rus from 972 to 978, succeeding Sviatoslav I of Kiev and preceding Vladimir the Great.

Biography
Yaropolk was the son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev, and his father made him Prince of Kiev while he campaigned against the Bulgars on the Danube. Soon after Sviatoslav's death, Yaropolk fought against his brothers in a civil war for their father's possessions, and he killed his brother Oleg of Drelinia after Oleg killed his chief advisor and commander. His other brother Vladimir went on the run after hearing of Oleg's death, and he later seized Kiev with the help of the treacherous boyar Blud. Yaropolk was convinced by Blud to flee to Rodnya on the Rus River, where Vladimir besieged him and starved him into negotiating. Yaropolk was then ambushed and killed by two Varangians upon arriving at Vladimir's headquarters. Yaropolk had went through some preliminary rites of baptism, but his death occurred before he could formally become a Christian.